Hide treating apparatus



Jan. 7, 1964 w. J. MANI ETAL HIDE- TREATING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed June '7, 1961 A vs InlY n.

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llllll Ww, ININTORS. x :am am BY Hellmuth Me' MEMS Jan. 7, 1964 w. J. MANI ETAL HIDE TREATING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 7, 1961 W11' jlvmvoles.

1 1am BY Hellmuth eier United States Patent O 3,116,627 HIDE TREATING APPARATUS William John Mani, 5903 N. 65th St., and Hellmuth Meier, 6604 56th St., both of Milwaukee, Wis. Filed June 7, 1961, Ser. No. 115,466 2 Claims. (Cl. 69-42) This invention relates to hide treating apparatus and particularly to hide shaving apparatus for reducing of calf hides and the like to a determined weight and thickness and includes an improved shaving roll for establishing continuous yfeed and automatic feed and tensioning means of insuring accurate weight and thickness control.

Generally, in finishing hides, the raw hide is initially cleaned and the hair removed after which the hide is chromed and excess moisture removed. The hide then is split to remove the flesh side, which is used as a byproduct, and establish a rough thickness of the hide. The split hide is reduced to a desired Weight and thickness by a shaving machine which operates on the flesh removed side of the hide to remove a final layer of the hide. The hide is normally completed by buing and fleshing operations in separate treating machines.

A hide shaving machine normally includes a shaving roll having peripheral spiral knives projecting from the surface of a supporting cylinder. The shaving roll is rotatably mounted adjacent a backing roll and the hide is hand fed between the backing roll and the shaver.

To prevent the spiral knives from pulling the hide to one side or the other, two side-by-side knife sections of oppositely directed spirals are secured to the supporting cylinder. The leading edge of the hide is directed into the shaving roll in line with the mating edges or ends of the spiral knives in the adjacent sections. Each spiral of the knives in the adjacent sections tends to pull the hide in the opposite direction and a smooth even action results therefrom.

Generally, shaving apparatus constructed heretofore has required hand feeding of the material in between the shaving roll and the backing roll. After the leading edge is gripped between the shaving roll and the backing roll, the operator pulls back on the hide to establish a tension in the hide as it passes through the apparatus. If the hide is not held, the rapidly rotating shaving roll swiftly whips the hide between the rolls without shaving the hide to the desired thickness and weight and often winding the hide :about the shaving roll with destruction of the hide and lost machine time for removal of the hide.

The operator is always subject to the hazard of having his hands drawn in between the shaving and the back roll. The operator has a natural tendency to release the hide when a substantial amount of the hide remains to be passed between the rolls to avoid this hazard. This may also result in the rapid whipping action previously described.

Normally, a manually controlled clutch mechanism is provided beneath the shaving and backing roll for stopping of the machine. The clutch mechanism interferes with a front discharge of the hide where aV continuous feed is employed.

The hand feeding is particularly time consuming and cumbersome in connection with cow hides and the like which are formed as split halves by dividing the hide along the backbone line of the animal. Generally, each split half is a rectangularly shaped member having the head portion and front Shanks in side-by-side relation at one end and a rear shank and tail and foot portions in sideby-side relation at the opposite end. Between the above portions, in side-by-side relation, are the back and belly portions. The rear shank and the head portion project forwardly rfrom the corresponding opposite ends of the hide and on opposite edges thereof. As previously noted,

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the leading portion of the hide should be aligned with the junction of the oppositely extending spiral knives. When the hide is fed between the shaving and backing roll with either the head portion or rear shank as the leading portion, a continuous feed cannot be used because the trailing portion of the hide is not aligned with the junction of the oppositely pitched spiral knives. In a continuous feed, the hide would be pulled in one direction and the adjoining face of the hide damaged. Normally, the operator first feeds the hide partially into the shaving roll from one end of the hide. The machine is stopped and the hide withdrawn after one half of the hide has been treated and then reinserted from the opposite end.

The manually fed units are therefore both dangerous and relatively slow production units. The results are also dependent upon the maintaining of an even pull on the hides and therefore greatly dependent upon the skill of the operator.

The present invention is particularly directed to a hide.

treating apparatus including an improved shaving roll and automatic feed and tension means for automatic feeding of the hide into the shaving roll permitting complete continuous movement of the hide past the shaving roll while maintaining even tension on the hide.

In accordance with the present invention, the treating apparatus includes a feed table carrying a pair of vertically arranged and opposed feed rolls. The upper roll is a rubber coated member and the lower roll is a steel or other similar hard faced roll. A shaving roll is mounted adjacent the ont feeding side of the lower feed roll which also serves as a backing roll. The shaving roll is mounted to cooperate with the backing and feed roll to reduce the weight and thickness of the hide in a predetermined manner.

The feed rolls are carried by the feed table which is manually adjustable with respect to the shaving roll. The weight and thickness of the hide is determined by controlled movement of the table to reposition the backing and feed rolls with respect to the shaving roll. The operator feeds the hide only into the feed rolls and the danger of serious harm is substantially eliminated.

The shaving roll, in accordance with a feature of this invention, includes at least three separate side-by-side sections having spiral knives with the direction or pitch of the knife spiral being alternately reversed to provide a pair of converging junctions at which the alternate spiral knives meet. The junctions of the spiral knives are arranged to correspond to the leading and trailing projecting portions respectively of the hide. Regardless of 'which split half is inserted in the machine, the leading portion always engages the middle section and one of the adjacent end sections to maintain engagement with oppositely directed spirals as the hide enters the unit. Similarly, when the trailing portion of the hide passes between the shaving and backing rolls, the projecting portion on the opposite edge of the hide passes between the opposite converging spiral knives to maintain the hide properly grasped within one of the converging knife junctions. Consequently, the complete hide can be allowed to pass between the shaving and backing rolls without danger of destruction of either end portion of the hide.

Separate drives are provided for the shaving roll and for the feed rolls. In the event any mishap occurs, the feed rolls may be stopped without stopping of the shaving roll. The feed rolls then clamp and hold the hide in place and prevent the whipping of the hide between the shaving roll and the backing roll and the possible wrapping of the hide about the shaving roll. Only that portion of the hide immediately aligned with the shaving roll is damaged.

The elimination of the clutch means and the provision of a separate drive for the feed rolls and the shaving roll allows the unit to be constructed open at the front bottom portion such that the hide can be removed through the front portion of the machine, if desired, after passlng from the shaving roll.

In accordance with the present invention, the shaving roll is removably mounted such that it might be replaced with a tl'eshing roll or a bung roll for final finishing of the hide.

The drawings furnished herewith illustrate the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. l is a diagrammatic illustration of a cow hide located with respect to a shaving roll constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of a shaving apparatus having a shaving roll constructed as shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front elevational View of the shaver shown in FIG. 2 with parts broken away to show details of construction;

FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of a buffing roll adapted to be inserted into the machine of FIGS. 2 and 3 in place of the shaving roll illustrated therein; and

FIG. 5 is a front elevational view of a fleshing roll adapted to be inserted in the machine of FIGS. 2 and 3 in place of the shaving or buffing roll.

Referring to the drawings and particularly to FIG. l, a hide 1 is shown arranged to be fed into or in alignment with a shaving roll 2.

The illustrated hide 1 is a split half of a cow hide. The leading end of the hide 1 includes, in side-by-side relation, a rear shank 3 shown to the left, a tail portion 4 shown to the right, and a butt portion 5 centrally between the shank 3 and the tail portion 4. The rear shank 3 extends substantially outwardly from the adjacent portions 4 and 5. Immediately behind the shank 3 and the hide portions 4 and 5 are a backbone portion 6 and a belly portion 7 in side-by-side relation and both of substantial rectangular shape. At the trailing or opposite end of the hide in FIG. 1 are a pair of adjacent front Shanks 8 and 9 and a head portion 10. The head portion 1) extends from the trailing end of the hide substantially outwardly of the balance of the hide.

The illustrated shaving roll 2 includes a base or supporting cylinder 11 having a central knife portion 12, a left end knife portion 13 and a right end knife section 14. Each of the sections 12-14 includes a series of spiral shaving knives or blades which are securely embedded within or otherwise secured to the periphery of the adjacent cylinder 11 and project radially and spirally therefrom. The spiral knives 15 in the end sections 13 and 14 extend in a similar direction or pitch and the spiral knives 15 in the central section 12 extend in the opposite direction or pitch to define a pair of converging knife junctions or V-joints 16 and 17 facing in circumferentially opposite directions. The V-joint 16 is formed where the knives 15 of the left end section 13 meet with the knives 15 of the central portion 12. Similarly, the right V-joint 17 is formed where the knives 15 of the right end knife section 14 mate or meet with the knives 15 of the central knife section 12.

Referring particularly to FIG. l, the split half of the hide 1 is shown with the rear shank 3 aligned with the left V-joint 16 and with the tail portions 4 and 5 shown to the right and including the right V-joint 17. As the hide 1 is fed into the shaving roll 2, the rear shank 3 is engaged by the knives 15 at the V-joint 16 to establish opposite pulls on the hide 1 and prevent movement of the hide axially of the shaving roll 2.

As the rear shank 3 passes the shaving roll 2, the hide is clear of the V-joint 16. However, at this time the V-joint 17 has engaged the tail portion 4 and maintains the hide at all times with at least one of the V-joints 16 or 17 grapsing and holding the hide 1 against lateral or axial movement. Similarly, as the hide 1 leaves the shaving roll 2, the V-joint 17 is aligned with the head portion 1t) which is the trailing portion of the hide 1.

When the right or opposite split half of the total hide is inserted into the shaving roll 2, the same surface must be presented to the shaving roll. A right split half is shown in phantom at 18 in FIG. l. In this position, the rear shank 3 is now aligned with the right V-joint 17 and the tail portion 4 is aligned with the left V-joint 16. At the trailing end of the hide 18, the head portion 10 is aligned with the left V-joint 16. Some portion of the hide 18 is always aligned with one of the joints 16 or 17 and lateral axial movement of the hide on the knives 15 is prevented.

The shaving roll 2 of this invention thus establishes an even pull on the hide 1 or 13 and allows continuous and complete movement of the hide past the shaving roll.

Referring particularly to FIGS. 2 and 3, an automatic hide treating unit is shown having a shaving roll 2 of FIG. l mounted within the unit. Generally, the illustrated apparatus includes a right-hand pedestal support 19 and a left-hand pedestal support 20 mounted in horizontally properly spaced relation for rotatably supporting the opposite ends of the shaving roll 2. A pair of vertically stacked feed rolls 21 and 22 of a similar diameter are mounted in front of the shaving roll 2 and properly located to dispose the lower feed roll 22 adjacent the shaving roll 2 as the backing roll for cooperative action with the shaving roll 2. The feed rolls 21 and 22 are rotatably supported by horizontally spaced pedestals 23 and 24 secured to a table 25.

The table 25 is slidably mounted for movement with respect to the shaving roll 2 and positioning of table 25 moves the lower feed roll 22 with respect to the shaving roll 2 to establish the weight and thickness of a hide 1 after it passes between rolls 2 and 22.

In accordance with the illustrated embodiment of the invention, a shaving roll drive motor 26 and a feed roll drive motor 27 are separately provided. The latter drive motor 27 is carried by the table 25 for suitable movement with the table 25 and the feed rolls 21 and 22.

More specifically, in the illustrated embodiment of the invention, each of the pedestal supports 19 and 2t) is similarly constructed as a generally upstanding narrow housing structure and the support 19 is more fully described hereinafter with corresponding elements in support 20 similarly numbered for reference purposes.

Support 19 includes an integral forwardly projecting bed 23 upon which the adjacent end of the table 25 is slidably supported. The pedestal 19 projects upwardly behind the bed 28 and terminates in a removable upper cap 29 which is removably secured in place by bolts 30 or the like. The dividing line between the cap 29 and the lower portion of the support 19 is aligned with the axis of the shaving roll 2. A two-piece bearing 31 is secured as part of support 19 with the dividing line coincident with the dividing line for the cap 29 and the lower portion of the support 19. The shaving roll 2 includes axially projecting journals 32 which are journaled in bearings 31 and terminate within the pedestal supports 19 and 2t). Each of the bearings 31 is preferably a high speed, forced lubrication variety to provide a long satisfactory operating life.

The terminal end of the shaft 32 within support 19 is connected to the shaving roll drive motor 26 as follows.

The motor 26 is mounted immediately adjacent the right pedestal support 19 and includes a motor shaft 33 projecting through and terminating within the right pedestal support 19. A pulley type coupling 34 connects the shaft 33 with a transmission shaft 35 which is mounted behind and below the shaving roll 2. The opposite ends of the shaft 35 are rotatably supported Within the adjacent supports 19 and 22. A pulley coupling 36 within the support 19 connects the end of the drive shaft 35 to the corresponding end of the shaving roll shaft 32 within support 19. The motor 26 drives the shaving roll 2 through the pulley couplings 34 and 36 to provide a continuous constant rotation of the shaving roll 2 at a selected speed.

A cylindrical rotor member 37 extends between the supports 19 and 20 immediately below the shaving roll 2. End shafts 38 project from the rotor member 37 and are journaled in suitable bearings 39 secured to the supports 19 and 20. A pulley wheel 40 is secured to the shaft 32 of the shaving roll 2 within support 20 and a pulley wheel 41 is secured to the shaft 38 of the rotor member 37 in alignment with the pulley wheel 40. A pulley belt 42 couples the pulley wheels 4t) and 41 to cause predetermined time rotation of the rotor member 37 with the shaving roll 2. As most clearly shown in FIG. 2, the diameter of the pulley 40 is slightly less than the diameter of the member pulley 41 to reduce the speed of the member 37 which serves to deflect the hide 1 away from the shaving roll 2 and positively prevents wrapping of the hide 1 about the shaving roll.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, an arcuate diverting pan 43 is mounted between the supports 19 and 29 and curves downwardly and forwardly from the rotor member 37 to direct the hide 1 beneath the table 25 and back outwardly through the front end of the machine. Normally, pan 43 is not necessary because there is ample room beneath the table 25 to allow the operator to safely reach beneath the table and pull the hide 1 outwardly therefrom.

The illustrated table 25 is a flat plate-like member having integral end carriages 44 at the opposite ends thereof in alignment with the upper surface of the beds 28.

Each of the carriages 44 rests upon bed 2S and includes an enlarged downwardly projecting front portion 45 extending downwardly in forwardly spaced relation to bed 28. A threaded screw member 46 is journaled within the front portion 45 of carriage 44 as at 47 and is threaded into a tapped opening 48 within the adjacent portion of the bed 23 for selective positioning of table 25 with respect to the bed 28. A hand wheel 49 is secured to the outer ends of the screw 46 to allow easy operation or rotation thereof.

Referring particularly to FIG. 3, a separate hand wheel adjustment is provided at each end of the table 25. This allows tilting of the feed roll and back roll 22 with respect to the shaving roll 2. Such positioning is sometimes desirable to compensate for differences in the belly and back portions of the hide.

A locking screw 5t) is laterally threaded through an inner depending portion 51 of the carriage 44 and bears on the adjacent portion of bed 28 to allow locking of the table 25.

The table 25 is thus moved inwardly or outwardly as desired to determine the proper weight and thickness of the hide 1 as it leaves the shaving roll 2.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, a heel or hand working bed 52 is secured to the front portion of the table 25 and constitutes a solid metal member extending across the entrance to the feed rolls 21 and 22. The upper leading edge of the bed 52 is curved as at 53 such that the hide 1, as it is fed into the feed rolls, may be hand smoothed on the curved edge 53 of the working bed 52. This provides convenient and safe area within which the operator may work without any danger of injury to his hands or the like.

The feed rolls 21 and 22 are supported by the pedestals 23 and 24 as previously noted. Each of the pedestals 23 and 24 is generally a tubular rectangular crosssectional member which is secured to the trailing end or the back side of the table 25 immediately behind the working bed 52. The pedestals 23 and 24 are secured in place as by welding or the like and project upwardly and downwardly from the movable table 25. Each of the pedestals 23 and 24 is a two-piece member centrally split and secured together by bolts 54. The pedestals 23 and 24 are split in line with the axis of the feed and back roll 22; A split bearing 55 is secured to the adjacent upper edges of each two pieces of the pedestals 23 and 24 to rotatably support the adjacent end of the feed roll 22 which includes axially projecting shafts 56 terminating within the corresponding pedestal.

The feed roll 22 is a steel or other hard-faced member and functions as a back-up member cooperating with the shaving roll 2 for determining the thickness of the nal hide 1 in accordance with the positioning of the table 25.

The roll 21 includes an outer sleeve 57 of rubber or other similar resilient material and is mounted immediately above the roll 22 as follolws.

-End shafts 58 project axially from the roll 21 and terminate within vertically positioned bearings 59 Within the pedestals 23 and 24. Each of the bearings 59 is generally of a two-piece construction such as a split brass bearing with suitable grease fittings, not shown. The bearings 59 are slidably journaled within bearing guide openings 60 in the upper ends of the pedestals 23 and 24. The bearings 59 are biased downwardly such that the feed roll 21 is biased to rest on the upper surface of back feed roll 22. As the hide 2 is fed in between the rolls 21 and 22, the feed roll 21 moves upwardly correspondingly. A spring 61 acts on the top of the rol-l bearing 59 with a stop 62 adjustably positioned within the outer portion `of the bearing guide opening 60 to establish selective compressive stress of the spring 61. A threaded rod 63 is secured to the stop 62 and projects outwardly or upwardly through the pedestal. The rod 63 is threadedly supported within a lock nut 64 which is secured to the upper end or top of the pedestal. Thus, rotation of the rod 63 within the lock nut 64 selectively axially moves the rod 63 and the attached stop 62. A hand wheel 65 is secured to the upper end of the rod 63 for relatively easy rotation of the rod and positioning of the stop 62.

The feed rolls 21 and 22 are simultaneously driven in opposite directions as viewed in fFIG. 2 to feed the hide 1 in between the shaving roll 2 and the lower back and feed roll 22 in the following manner.

The feed roll motor 27 is secured to the underside of the table adjacent the pedestal 20k with the axis of the motor parallel to the table. A shaft 66 extends from the righ-t end of the motor and terminates within the pedestal 24. A shaft 67 extends from the opposite end of the motor and terminates within the opposite pedestal 23. Suitable bearings 68 are secured to the inner walls of the pedestals 23 and 24 -to rotatably support the shafts 66 and 67.

VReferring particularly to the right pedestal 23, a pulley wheel 69 is connected to the terminal end of the shaft 66 within the pedestal. A pulley wheel 70 is secured to the corresponding end shaft of the rubber faced feed roll 21. A pulley belt 7-1 encircles the wheels 69 and 7i) to transmit the driving rotation of the shaft 66 to the feed moll 21. The diameter of the pulley wheel 69 is less than the diameter of the wheel 70 to decrease the speed of the roll 21 with respect to the output of the motor.

Referring to the left pedestal 23 in FIG. 3 the shaft 67 is connected to the drive roll 22 as follows.

A gear 72 is secured to the shaft 67 and meshes with a reversing gear 73 carried by an idler shaft 74 within the pedestal. A pulley drive 75 o-f a one-to-one ratio connects the idler shaft 74 to the shafts for the feed and back-up roll 22. The pulley drive 75 is thus selected to drive the feed and backing roll 22 at a somewhat greater speed than the roll 21 and thus establish a slightly greater radial peripheral speed.

In summary, the illustrated embodiment of the invention functions as follows.

The table 25 is selectively positioned on the beds 2S with the feed and back roll 22 located with respect to the shaver 2 to establish a desired weight and thickness of the -hide 1. The motors 26 and 27 are energized to simultaneously rotate the feed lrolls 21 and 22, the shaving roll 2 and the rotor member 37. The hide 1 is placed on the working bed 52 and properly located with respect to the V-joints 16 and 17 of the shaving roll 2, as shown in FIG. 1. The hide 1 is fed in between the rollers 21 and 22 with the upper roll 21 moving upwardly and resiliently gripping the hide 1 for frictionally feeding the hide into the shaving roll 2. The hide 1 rests on the circumference of the feed and backing roll 22 and thus enters in between the shaving roll 2 and the roll 22. The knives on the shavingr roll 2 remove a portion of the hide 1 to establish a desired weight and thickness. lFrom the shaving roll 2, the hide moves downwardly with the rotor member 37 positively preventing movement of the hide back around the shaving roll 1. The hide continues downwardly and moves outwardly below the feed table 25 toward the front of the machine where the operator can again pick up the hide 1 and transfer it for further processing.

In the event of malfunctioning for any reason, the feed troll motor 27 is stopped and feeding of the hide 1 ceases. The feed rolls 21 and 22 firmly grip the hide 1 to hold the hide against movement under the action of the continuously rotating shaving roll 2. The only portion `of the hide 1 which will be damaged is that portion immediately adjacent the shaving roll 1.

After the hide 1 has been shaved to the desired weight and thickness, it is conventional to finish the hide surface with the use of a fleshing roll 76 as shown in FIG. 4 and a bufiing roll 77 as shown in FIG. 5.

-The iieshing roll 76 is shown as a conventional unit having a spiral strip `of sandpaper 7S embedded within an outer rubber covering 79 on the outer surface of the fleshing roll 76. `In accordance with the present invention, the upper caps 29 of the end supports 19 and 20 are removed and after disengaging of the various pulleys, the shaving roll 2 is removed and replaced with the tieshing roll 76.- The hides 1 may then be passed through the machine in lthe same manner as previously described to effect the desired fleshing operation.

The bufiing roll 77 includes an outer rubber cover 80 which is adapted to apply the final finishing operation to the outer surface of the hide 1. The bufling roll 77 may be inserted in the hide treating apparatus in the same manner as that previously described for the fleshing roll 76 to complete the treating of the hide. In some instances, only portions of the hides are iieshed and buffed. If desired, a clutch can be installed for controlling the operation of the iieshing and bufing roll.

The present invention provides a flesh'ing, buing and shaving apparatus for treating of hides. This invention is particularly directed to the improved shaving operation and provides a very safe machine for accurate and positive trimming of the hide to a selected weight and thickness.

Various modes of carrying out the invention are contemplated as being within the scope of the following claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which is regarded as the invention.

We claim:

1. A hide shaving roll having a supporting roll base o for shaving a split hide, a first knife section comprising a series lof spiral knife members secured to the roll base and terminating in common radial plane, a second knife section immediately adjacent the first knife section and comprising a similar series of spiral knife members secured to the roll base and extending from the first knife members with an opposite spiral, and a third knife section immediately adjacent the opposite end of the second knife section and comprising a similar series of spiral knife members secured to the roll base and extending from the second knife members with a spiral corresponding to the first knife members, said second knife section being of a length corresponding to `approximately the width of a split hide.

2. lIn a machine for shaving hides to a selected thickness, a pair of spaced vertical support members, a bladed shaving roll rotatably mounted in the upper ends of the support members and having three continuous side-byside sections with spiral knives in each section, the knives in the end sections being similarly pitched and oppositely to the knives in the intermediate section with V-shapcd knife junctions at the respective adjacent sections, said intermediate section width being selected to be slightly less than the width of a split hide whereby the leading portion of a hide is always aligned with a V-shaped knife junction of the shaving knives, a backing roll having a hard surface mounted adjacent the forward portion of the shaverl and cooperating with the shaver to determine the thickness of a treated hide, a feed roll having a rubber facing resiliently mounted for floating vertical movement in alignment with the backing roll, feed roll drive means, means connecting the drive means to drive the feed roll and the backing roll in opposite directions for feeding a hide in between the shaver and the backing roll with the peripheral surface of the backing roll rotating more rapidly than the feed roll, a feed table movably mounted on the upper portion of the support members relative to the shaver, means on said feed table to support `said feed roll and backing roll and said feed roll drive means, separate drive means for said shaving roll, and a cylindrical roll member mounted adjacent the underside of the shaver to deflect the discharging hide and prevent movement of the hide about the shaving roll.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 785,022 Rood Mar. 14, 1905 828,588 Whitney Aug. 14, 1906 904,079 OBrien Nov. 17, 1908 1,347,866 Mercier July 27, 1920 1,621,577 Blaney Mar. 22, 1927 1,863,777 Wayland June 2l, 1932 2,305,879 Leach Dec. 22, 1942 2,686,414 Griffin Aug. 17, 1954 2,995,024 Jones Aug. 8, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS 579,565 France Apr. 6, 1924 1,050,259 France Sept. 2, 1953 

2. IN A MACHINE FOR SHAVING HIDES TO A SELECTED THICKNESS, A PAIR OF SPACED VERTICAL SUPPORT MEMBERS, A BLADED SHAVING ROLL ROTATABLY MOUNTED IN THE UPPER ENDS OF THE SUPPORT MEMBERS AND HAVING THREE CONTINUOUS SIDE-BYSIDE SECTIONS WITH SPIRAL KNIVES IN EACH SECTION, THE KNIVES IN THE END SECTIONS BEING SIMILARLY PITCHED AND OPPOSITELY TO THE KNIVES IN THE INTERMEDIATE SECTION AND V-SHAPED KNIFE JUNCTIONS AT THE RESPECTIVE ADJACENT SECTIONS,SAID INTERMEDIATE SECTION WIDTH BEING SELECTED TO BE SLIGHTLY LESS THAN THE WIDTH OF A SPLIT HIDE WHEREBY THE LEADING PORTION OF A HIDE IS ALWAYS ALIGNED WITH A V-SHAPED KNIFE JUNCTION OF THE SHAVING KNIVES, A BACK ROLL HAVING A HARD SURFACE MOUNTED ADJACENT THE FORWARD PORTION OF THE SHAVER AND COOPERATING WITH THE SHAVER TO DETERMINE THE THICKNESS OF A TREATED HIDE, A FEED ROLL HAVING A RUBBER FACING RESILIENTLY MOUNTED FOR FLOATING VERTICAL MOVEMENT IN ALIGNMENT WITH THE BACKING ROLL, FEED ROLL DRIVE MEANS, MEANS CONNECTING THE DRIVE MEANS TO DRIVE THE FEED ROLL AND THE BACKING ROLL IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS FOR FEEDING HIDE IN BETWEEN THE SHAVER AND THE BACKING ROLL WITH THE PERIPHERAL SURFACE OF THE BACKING ROLL ROTATING MORE RAPIDLY THAN THE FEED ROLL, A FEED TABLE MOVABLY MOUNTED THE UPPER PORTION OF THE SUPPORT MEMBERS RELATIVE TO THE SHAVER, MEANS ON SIDE FEED TABLE TO SUPPORT SAID FEED ROLL AND BACKING ROLL AND SAID FEED ROLL DRIVE MEANS, SEPARATE DRIVE MEANS FOR SAID SHAVING ROLL, AND A CYLINDRICAL ROLL MEMBER MOUNTED ADJACENT THE UNDERSIDE OF THE SHAVER TO DEFLECT THE DISCHARGING HIDE AND PREVENT MOVEMENT OF THE HIDE ABOUT THE SHAVING ROLL. 